Game Day Recap, Atlanta Hawks vs. Detroit Pistons

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points leading the Pistons to a surprising victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night; ruining the home opener for Atlanta.

The Pistons began to pull away in the second half, leading by double figures throughout most of the final two quarters. Only to let the Hawks back in the game, bringing the score to within 10 points. But with only two minutes left, it was too late for Atlanta, dropping their record to 0-1 to start the season.

Thoughts:

Atlanta let the Pistons get 59 rebounds to there 40. Also allowing the Pistons to get 23 offensive boards. This was one of the key reasons Detroit won. The Hawks gave up way too many offensive rebounds. When they’re allowing the other team to get that many rebounds, you’re not ending defensive possessions. So the other team get’s more scoring opportunities

They need to fix this if they plan on building on last season’s success. And the Pistons need to keep rebounding and playing good defense like they did today, in order to have a successful season.

Ersan Ilyasova had a good game. Scoring 16 points and also making 3, three-point shots. He added to the Pistons rebounding with 7 rebounds, and also played good defense. Coming up with two key defensive plays; drawing an offensive foul on Atlanta on both possessions.

Although the Atlanta Hawks lost, Dennis Schroder was one of the few bright spots for the team. Showing that he was ready to improve on last season’s success, scoring 20 points to lead the Hawks. He was also +5 on the court in plus, minus. As he was only one of a few Hawks to have a positive impact, when on the court.

Thabo Sefolosha played his first game since coming back from the leg injury, and he didn’t show any signs of it preventing him from playing at the level he’s accustom to.

He had a good game. The scoring wasn’t there, but when watching the game, it told a different story. His defensive energy helped the Hawks because before he entered the game, Marcus Morris was abusing the Hawks in the post. Until Thabo started guarding him, only allowing him to shoot 6-19 the rest of the game.

He was also wreaking havoc in passing lanes, getting 4 steals on the day. And was one of the few Hawks to put some effort towards rebounding the ball, grabbing 7 rebounds in only 18:56 minutes of play.